Danger Lives in the Dark
by Rhealina
Summary: Demons have learned to hide themselves in our modern day New York City, but something seems to be causing a fuss in the hierarchy that is in place. Or maybe even someone. But what does a college student have to do with all that? For Katherine, it just means her life became even more confusing than it already was. (This will eventually be SebastionxOC, but not rn, rating may change)


Sebastian Michaelis looked down on the busy streets of Manhattan from the office he was standing in. He watched as all the filth of the human world ran around below, on the way to whatever mundane activity each one of them had planned. From the 67th floor of this particular office building, he could see quite a bit of the claustrophobic streets of the most concentrated area in this country. He smirked as he turned and looked around the office space once again. Meeting Ciel's still childish demands after all these years was tiring but expected. Why the little demon wanted to expand his game company to the united states was lost on him, since everything they did on the surface world was meaningless. Maybe he wanted a change of pace from London, finally.

It worked in his favor. He had wanted to leave Britain since the turn of the 1900's.

The large office space was empty, and extravagant, placed in the middle of Manhattan and came with multiple floors. Extravagant, and Expensive. Not that they had a price limit, they could simply materialize anything they wanted, including money. It was quite the overhaul for a silly board game company. However, it had a view, and since it was so far up, it was quiet, which was exactly what Sebastian was looking for. He scoffed, knowing Ciel would find something to complain about.

The black suited man glided to the elevator, eager to unleash himself on the city. This space would have to suffice.

* * *

Katherine Vinea looked at her phone. 8:15. She was running late for class. Again. She had missed the train she needed to take on the Long Island Railroad to get to class on time. Now, she was on a later train that was pulling into Penn Station, biting her nails and tapping her feet impatiently. The train pulled into the station, ad she clutched her bag as she sprinted seven blocks to the Fashion Institute of Technology.

The cold November air hit her like a truck. She tightened her scarf and buttoned her black felt peacoat, thanking her lucky stars she didn't wear leggings and flipflops today like she had originally planned. The thick denim ad sneakers she donned instead would help against the cold bite of the winter breeze in the air.

Pushing through the crowd was miserable and being late made her even more frantic. Her teachers had given her enough shit for it in the past and she wasn't particularly in the mood for a personalized lecture today.

As she rounded W 27th street, she checked her phone again. Only 20 minutes late. Maybe if she snuck into her illustration class quietly, the professor wouldn't even notice. After all, it was the largest class she was in, with over 65 other students. Panting from her run to the school, she pulled her long brown curls out of the messy bun she had woken up in, and futilely tried to make herself more presentable. The rush of hot air as she entered the building felt so good, she shivered, and she made her way to her classroom.

Taking a deep breath, she creaked the door open, flinching when the door moaned in protest.

"Miss Vinea, thank you for finally joining us this morning." Her professor turned, staring at her.

"I'm really sorry, I missed my tr-"

"Please, take your seat, I don't have time to listen to your excuses or to tell you off today. Homework in the bin." He pointed to his desk and began to continue his lecture.

Katherine's face turned beet-red, and she shuffled to an empty desk and dug through her bag for her homework assignment. The blasted thing was the reason she was late, since she had stayed up all night working on the drawing. A simple landscape drawing shouldn't take so long, but the perfectionist in her wouldn't let her stop until it met her over-the-top standards. Dropping the folder with her assignment on his desk and taking her seat, she pulled out her class notebook. At least she finally made it to class.

After class she stayed to talk to her Professor. He was a real stick in the mud. It was strange because he was so young, but Katherine assumed it was because other students constantly tried to take advantage of him for his youth. He was pretty good looking, but he intimidated Katherine, plus she knew better than to get involved with a professor. She saw him as a mentor more than anything else.

She waited until all the other students had filed out of the room, and then approached him. "Professor Sallos, I'm really sorry for being late."

He sighed and ran a hand through his blond hair, shaking his head. "You know better, Kat. Set alarms. Stop procrastinating. Get your shit together. I can't keep covering for you. You know the university's attendance policy. And I know my class is more relaxed in that regard, but you really need to start getting here on time."

Katherine looked to her feet. "I know. I'm sorry."

Sallos turned and looked to his desk. "Your work in my class is impeccable, but attendance is important." He pulled out the assignment that Katherine had turned in and looked back to her. "I assume you stayed up all night on this and ignored the time limit as well. Not everything you turn in has to be magnificent. It leaves no room for growth. So, don't do it on tonight's assignment either"

"Heh, you're right, sorry," Katherine laughed sheepishly and looked to her phone for the time. "I'll try to do worse this time I promise."

"Get out of my classroom smartass, I've got places to be," Sallos smirked as he rolled his eyes at her.

Katherine gathered her things, shoving them in her bag as neatly as she could while rushing. "See you tomorrow, bright and early!" and she quickly left the room.

However, as soon as her back was turned, the smirk from Sallos's face vanished, leaving a scrutinizing gaze on Katherine's back. In the few months that he had been teaching her, he'd never noticed anything particularly special about her, even though he knew what she was. Not extraordinarily beautiful, or talented, or cunning, or even smart. All she had a knack for was sleeping in and spending too much time on a single project. She left the room, and he turned to the classrooms large windows revealing the bustling Manhattan street. His eyes flashed red and he began to prepare for his next class.

* * *

The rest of Katherine's classes came and went without as much excitement. After her third and final class of the day, she decided to grab so food before going home. Keeping an eye out for her best friend Jackson, who had a knack for sneaking up on her, she walked over to one of the stupid overpriced campus restaurants. After buying a bland burger and fries for over 15 bucks, she walked over to a table and pulled out her phone to text him.

Right before she hit send on the text asking if he'd gone home for the day, she felt a hand jab her in the ribs. She jumped and shrieked, whipping around to see the little red headed devil laughing with his phone camera pointed at her scowling face.

"Gotcha Kitty Kat," he laughed as he dodged a feeble punch from his victim. "Thank you for being the star of my snap story today, nothing interesting had happened yet."

"Jackie I'm actually going to kill you. Like, no joke. I will climb into your bedroom and smother you in your sleep." Katherine's scowl quickly flipped into an evil smile. "Don't test me little boy."

"Please Kat, we both know your empty threats mean nothing. You're all bark and no bite." Jackson slid into the seat across from her and began picking at her fries.

"Oi," she yapped as she smacked his had away, "get your own, the line's over there." She jerked her thumb in the direction of the growing food line.

"Pft, I'd never eat there. I don't even know why you do. How were your classes today sweetheart?"

She looked at him incredulously. "Like you care, you just wanna hear about Sallos. Get over it. He's a Professor and you're a student, you crazy idiot."

"Kitty, PLEASE!" Jackson threw his head back and his arms in the air, "You're absolutely killing me. I could definitely get with him. That man radiates sexiness, and you get to see him every single day." He sighed, crossed his arms across his chest and leaned forward on the table. "I wish I were you so bad."

"Well, today he basically told me that I put in too much effort, so," Katherine took a large bite of her burger, and started talking through her food, "and told me off for being late again."

"Okay, one, ew. I don't need to see the food in your mouth you slob. Two, you were late again?" He shook his head.

Her eyes widened, and she swallowed. "Sorry, and look I was up all night doing his stupid homework. It's not my fault I take pride in my art." Jackson stared at Katherine expectantly.

"Okay it is my fault. Whatever. It won't happen again, mom."

"Good girl. I want you to be in bed by 9:30 tonight, young lady. Did he give you homework tonight too?"

Katherine groaned. "Of course, who do you think he is? Do you want these?" She pointed at her fries.

Jackson nodded halfheartedly, "I'll take them if you're throwing them away. What is it?"

"I don't even know, hang on," Katherine started to dig through her bag for the assignment sheet. "Shit, I didn't even grab it before I left."

"Wow. You're an idiot."

"Jeez, I know," she muttered, glancing at the time. "He probably hasn't left for the day yet; I might be able to catch him in his office. Thank god his office hours are so late." Jackson's eyes lit up with a mischievous glint.

"Can I come?" he said slyly, leaning forward.

"Absolutely not," Katherine scoffed, "stalk him on your own time and don't involve me."

Jackson just laughed in response to her snide remark and stood from the table. "Okay Kitty, I'm going to go get my binoculars, for maximum accuracy in my stalking abilities." He gave her a grin as he swept the trash from the table and threw it away, throwing her a wink on the way over.

Katherine resisted the urge to roll her eyes, grabbed her bag, and headed to Sallos's office.

* * *

Katherine walked in silence, and was a few doors away from her destination when she heard voices coming from Sallos's office. Not wanting to interrupt, she decided to wait in the hall outside his door until he was available. However, when she started to listen, she heard a voice that seemed very, very angry.

_That can't be Sallos, he never gets angry. Mildly annoyed, maybe, but never truly angry… what the hell_? Katherine peeked through the crack in the door, curious and well, worried for whoever her professor was speaking to.

"I don't give a shit who you are, you cannot do something like this is a place that has already been claimed," Sallos almost growled at the mystery man, his hands in fists at his side.

"Oh, but I already did," he chuckled darkly, "And if you want to stay here, you'll have to deal with it. It would be unwise to antagonize me. You should know better, Sallos. You should also know better than to use your true name in a place like this, you never know what someone may attempt with that kind of information."

The man had his back to the door, but Katherine could see that he was in a suit, and he was tall, with unkempt black hair. "I haven't a clue why you would spend your time with these… _people_," the man said, hesitating on the word 'people,' which Katherine thought was bizarre. What's wrong with college students? They aren't all bad. "Someone of your reputation should be higher up on the food chain. It almost seems as if there's something keeping you here. Curious, isn't it?"

Katherine had to double take. She could have sworn Her professor's soft blue eyes flashed red, so bright they were almost glowing. When she looked again, they were light blue, like they've always been. Katherine scowled at herself. She definitely needed to start sleeping earlier.

The mystery man laughed then, "Haha, so here is my proposal, Sallos," he sneered at his name, "You stay out of my business, and I'll do my best to stay out of yours, since you clearly have something you wish for me to not be involved in."

Sallos glared at the man with such hatred, Katherine backed into the wall on the opposite hallway, knocking off a paper from someone's wall. She cursed and looked back to the office door that she was so clearly spying through, only this time both of the figures in the office were staring straight at her, a pair of unbelieving blue eyes and a pair of russet red eyes that seemed to be looking at her as if she were less than dirt.

"Kat, how long have you been standing there?" Sallos's eyes darted to the other man in the office and back to her with a flash of panic, quickly replaced with irritation.

Katherine didn't see this, for she was too hypnotized by the other man. He was absolutely gorgeous, and absolutely terrifying. He had a fake smile plastered to his face, dressed professionally in a black suit, and had an aura around him that horrified her for no clear reason. He raised his eyebrow when he noticed her staring, and cocked his head to the side, but said nothing. Katherine was frozen and couldn't stop staring at him with slack-jawed expression.

"Katherine!" She snapped her head to her professor.

"Oh um, I'm sorry, I, uh…" she fumbled over her word in a panic trying to think of what to say. "Homework… I forgot to get it…" she trailed off.

Sallos darted up, rummaged in his bag and shoved the assignment sheet at her and then slammed the door in her face.

Dumbfounded, Katherine stared at the door for nearly 30 seconds before stiffly turning to head home for the day.

The two men were silent until the heard her footsteps recede down the hallway, and Sallos let out a sigh of relief. He looked at the man and said, "Michealis, you need to leave."

Sebastian put his hand to his chin and grinned. "How very strange for a human to sneak up on us. Maybe you I could accept, but no one gets around me without me knowing. Curiouser and curiouser, wouldn't you say?"

"Leave, NOW." Sallos opened the door to his office. "I'll stay out of your business. Stay away from my students."

Sebastian put his hands up in faux submission, "We shall see, dearest Sallos. I may be curious about that one though, maybe I'll take her next instead of staying away." He chuckled and swept out of the office before Sallos could say anything.

"Wait!" Sallos ran out of the office after him, but he was gone. Sallos stared down the hall in dismay. "Fuck." He took out his phone, and dialed.

* * *

**a/n: Wow... I haven't published anything in a hot minute. My life is completely different than it was 5 years ago. Maybe this time I'll actually finish this story. It's changed and evolved so much through the years, but I think I'm finally satisfied with the plot. If you're reading this, please be sure to leave a review, I'd love to know if anyone is actually enjoying this mess. See you next time!**


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